Background <p>As China faces rapid population aging and rising healthcare pressures, individual responsibility has become central to health promotion. Television medical talk shows play a key role in communicating medical knowledge and responsibility expectations, yet their framing practices remain underexamined.</p> Objective <p>This study examines how Chinese televised medical talk shows explain the causes of and propose solutions to health problems, and how Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western Medicine (WM) are mobilized to construct individualized health responsibility.</p> Methods <p>We analyzed 73 episodes from the five highest-rated medical talk shows using quantitative content analysis to examine causes and solutions framed by TCM and WM, followed by qualitative textual analysis of how these paradigms interact on television.</p> Findings <p>The results reveal a strong emphasis on individual-level causes and solutions, with comparatively little attention to social and environmental determinants of health. While both TCM and WM contributed to this individualized framing, they differed in how responsibility was articulated. WM more frequently invoked biological explanations and medical intervention, whereas TCM emphasized lifestyle regulation, self-care, and self-treatment. Notably, TCM narratives often referenced Western biomedical science to legitimize self-directed health practices, reinforcing expectations of personal responsibility.</p> Conclusion <p>Chinese medical talk shows construct an individualized health responsibility through the strategic deployment of different medical paradigms. This media discourse aligns with broader state-led public health governance by normalizing self-management and behavioral regulation as civic obligations, raising important implications for health equity and public understanding.</p>